An Open Letter to Airbnb, Competitor Sites and Short-Term Rental Property Owners

So you want to rent out your place on Airbnb, Wimdu, Dwellable, Roomorama, 9flats, HomeAway, short-term rental agencies, and the countless other ‘rent out your apartment and make some money’ sites that are out there? Or maybe you own or work for one of those sites and are looking to up your game against your competition?

You’ve no doubt read posts like this one from our friends at Making It Anywhere, full of tips about searching and using Airbnb.

That’s all well and good. We love Mish and Rob and we know they’ve spent more than their fair share of time teaching people how to use these sites as customers.

But I’m here for something else. I’m here to lay down the law for the property owners out there. And I’m here to lay down the law for Airbnb and all those other websites.

Whether you’re the platform owner or the property owner, this is what you need to do to attract the best customers – ahem, people like us – keep your reviews good, and keep that cash flow coming in.

We’re not the end-all, be-all of this game. But we are full-time travelers who only ever stay in furnished apartments.

This means we spend a lot of time on Airbnb and less time on the other sites because, well, they’re just not as good. (Sorry guys, it’s true.)

We also spread the word like mad and refer apartments to tons of other people. We refer sites and give our friends, family, and readers advice on how to book, where to book, and what to watch out for.

Alas, my time here is to aim at the companies and propery owners who make this all possible for millions of travelers around the world. Get your game right.

First and foremost is my disclaimer: We have loved 99% of our apartment owners. We have been extremely lucky across the world, but we have also been extremely careful when booking. We ask a lot of questions before we ever book a place. We vet the owners and they vet us.

Let’s roll…

1) Be accurate with your location

You don’t need to put your actual address. You don’t need to pinpoint the exact building you’re in when you put your listing on a site. I understand the safety issues with this, and I actually recommend that you pinpoint your location very close to where it is, in a vague area. (The apartment we lived in during our time in Seville was pinpointed in the grocery store next to it. Smart.)

Just don’t put it miles away from where it actually is. That’s irresponsible and misleading. I’ve seen beachfront apartments listed not far from where we currently live in Mexico. We’re about a 30-minute ride from the beach. Don’t be that guy.

Don’t tell people you’re an “easy walk to the center” when you’re a 20-minute walk. Not everyone is a spritely young hipster with knees of freedom and effortless mobility. We’re not that young and not that old, and we don’t mind a good walk. Older folks, on the other hand, require crucial information to be sure they’re not stranded somewhere that makes accessibility an issue.

It can also be a safety issue. Don’t tell people you’re “just on the western edge of [Insert Trendy Neighborhood Here],” when the true description of your location is “hood-adjacent.” This can seriously come back to bite you in the backside.

2) Be accurate with your apartment

Don’t tell people you have a full kitchen when you have a hot plate and a dish-drying rack. Don’t tell people you have a double bed when you actually have a fold-out couch. Don’t tell people you have a terrace when you have a rooftop deck that’s another four flights above the apartment in question.

Do tell people exactly what you have. Have a balcony? Tell them. Have a washing machine? Tell them. Put it all in your listing. There’s a reason that some of these sites have amenities checklists. Use them.

If you don’t have a washer, for example, explain why as well as what the solution is. Here in Mexico, it’s not all that common to have one. Instead, there are lavanderías on every corner. They’re inexpensive, efficient, they wash/dry/fold your laundry within 24 hours, and everybody uses them. Locals, tourists, expats, whatever. Tell people things like this!

Don’t half-ass it. Seriously. Don’t put a half-paragraph about your apartment, in all-caps, in a native colloquial dialect, leave all the amenities checklists unfilled, and then wonder why no one rents it.

Be sure to let people know how far crucial amenities are from the apartment: Grocery stores, banks, restaurants, the beach, public transportation, etc.

Be sure to tell people how accessible your place is: Is it up a hill? On a mountain? In a dungeon? On the 18th floor with no elevator? These things actually matter!

What I decipher from that is that you cannot be bothered to showcase your apartment and instead try to entice people with bullshit photos that are meant to deflect from what your apartment is really like.

Your apartment is not an Anthropologie catalog.

4) Don’t embellish your internet connection

Be real. Don’t tell people you have high-speed internet or wi-fi when you have a 3G stick. Tons of your potential customers actually rely on high-speed internet. *cough cough* Don’t lie about it. If your connection gets one bar in the apartment, install a range extender or get a better connection.

Do you want to deal with a complaining customer because your internet doesn’t work properly? No? Then don’t lie about it and/or fix it.

I recently read a review on Airbnb where a customer was double-booked and put into a larger, nicer apartment for the same price. Upon arrival. But guess what? The other apartment didn’t have internet! And he relied on it for his work. Personally, I would lose my mind if that happened and you can be damn sure I’d put it all over the internet.

From here on out, I have promised myself that I will always ask what speed the connection is. Because a ground-level 3mb connection with no WAP for eight apartments on four floors is…just…well…if you know anything about internet connections, that’s a sad, sad state of affairs.

For the customers: I do recommend that you have a range-extending wi-fi adapter. Just in case, and because you never know. Also, they cost like $20 and are usually smaller than a pack of cigarettes. See this post by foXnoMad for more info.

5) Don’t be lazy about fixing problems

It doesn’t matter if you live in a ‘mañana’ country. It doesn’t matter if ‘things are done differently’ where you live. Sure, 99% of local customs should be respected because that’s how it is. That’s just life. We get that and we accept that, and if you know anything about us or our site, then you know that’s how we play the game.

However, as an owner, you are in a new position. You’re now catering to people who are most likely not from your country. Don’t think you can slack off like you do on a normal basis. You have put yourself in a position to cater to tourists. You now have a responsibility to do your freakin’ job.

People are paying a ton more for the privilege. They are paying the ‘foreigner tax’ or the ‘short-term price’ or whatever. You no longer have the right to treat them as if they’ve gotten a great deal on a place and will be there for ten years. You are now partially a hotel owner and partially an apartment owner.

It’s time to live up to the responsibility that you’ve created for yourself. Telling a customer that the internet will be fixed tomorrow – something that goes on for weeks – is simply unacceptable.

We had a major plumbing problem in Seville. It wasn’t the end of the world, and it wasn’t our landlord’s fault. It happened with the pipes under our apartment – more than once – and the primary fix didn’t work. The next time it happened was about 10pm at night. I texted our landlord to let her know.

It was really something that could wait until the next day. But you know what she did? She had a plumber there within an hour and the problem was permanently fixed. We will never forget how she went out of her way to fix a problem immediately.

We had an A/C leakage problem here in Mexico, which was flooding the floor in our second bedroom on a daily basis. I told our landlord every day, and we got to the point where he was bringing it up first because he didn’t want to suffer my complaints. A couple weeks later, the fix-it guys came and solved the problem. And then, after it was fixed, he told me that they only hire family for security reasons. This is why we had to wait.

Dude. All you had to do was tell us that in the first place! We would have understood completely and not asked you about it again.

But really, things like this are just common sense, personal responsibility, and respect. As customers, we are expected to be respectful of your property and your possessions, and to understand that problems can and do happen. The nature of the beast.

And as owners, you are expected to be respectful of the promises you’ve made and the (extra tourist/short-term rental) money that you’ve taken. That’s really what it’s about: Respect.

6) Offer (realistic) monthly prices

I bet, as you go about your carefree rental life, most of you owners don’t even consider how many people there are out there who want a monthly rental. Not just full-time travelers like us, but vacationers who get actual vacation time instead of a paltry 10 days or whatever the pathetic standard is in the U.S. now.

Just because you rent out your place for $75/night – “a better deal than a hotel!” – doesn’t mean you can ask $2250/month for the same place. That’s totally not how it works. Would you rather have your place rented out for 10 days a month total, to three different clients, at $75/night; or would you like to rent it out for an entire month, to one client, for $1100?

It’s not rocket science. Less responsibility, less of a variety of people to deal with, less cleaning, less fixing, less personality clashes, less payments to collect, less emails to deal with, yada yada yada. You get the picture. Time is money.

And for all you rental sites out there: Add a freakin’ monthly-price option for owners already. A lot of you don’t, and it’s a terrible, terrible mistake on your part.

7) Be open to change

Somebody always wants something, don’t they? We understand that your apartment is your baby. It’s your investment and you’re here to make some bucks off it on a short-term basis for whatever reason strikes you.

Here’s the thing: Not everyone is like you.

You are more than welcome to pick and choose who rents your place. That’s how it works. You’re the owner and you get to decide. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be open to things you previously thought might not work out.

Example: We own a dog. Most owners do not allow dogs. I understand why. I absolutely understand why. But, every case is different. Our dog is an older guy and he weighs less than a cat. He’s been around the block – and the world – so to speak. He’s also reasonably well-behaved.

On top of that and more importantly: We are responsible dog owners. He sometimes wears an anti-bark collar. He always stays in his crate when we’re not home. We always pick up after him in the yard. We’ve always been that way and that’s how we are. This is especially important when it comes to short-term rentals.

Almost every place we’ve ever stayed does not allow dogs. Seriously. I simply contact the owners and state my case. Some are amenable, some are not, some want extra deposits, and some don’t care. I understand all of that. You are not required to allow dogs.

(I’d also say that the majority of dog owners are irresponsible. They make us look bad and we completely understand that. It’s been that way for years and it will unfortunately be that way for years to come.)

Just, don’t be the guy who wants to rent us your apartment and then make insane demands about it. This one guy in Spain wanted us to rent his place, but was not satisfied with the above. He actually asked us to come over to his apartment and leave our dog with him every time we left the apartment. What?! Seriously.

No, guy, I will not do that. I told him as much, and told him we’d find another place. He proceeded to send me multiple messages over the course of a couple weeks, trying to convince us to do that. Why would we do that?

We instead found an owner who was open to a bit of change and let us stay there. We had a great time, she was lovely, and we all got glowing reviews after we left. And what a surprise: If I recall correctly, the other guy’s apartment was open and unrented the entire time we were there.

In Montenegro, our owner did not allow dogs either. They had a client bring a huge dog that destroyed a lot of things in their apartment. We made our case and the family decided they’d let us stay. If you read our site, you know how that turned out.

8) Follow the rules

These short-term rental sites have policies for a reason. Follow the rules or don’t use the sites. Or don’t wonder why you get no customers or get terrible reviews.

One thing that’s extremely common in Mexico – the only place we’ve experienced it – is that owners will ask you to provide a cash deposit and sign a lease when you arrive. As far as we know, that’s a big no-no on these sites. But it happens all the time, and it can cause problems for everyone.

A lot of owners will also ask you to pay utilities when they’re almost always supposed to be included in the price of your rental. Do whatever you want, but be up-front about it. Just be prepared to get kicked out of the game if you don’t play by the rules.

And if you don’t like how the game is played, then go play somewhere else.

And that’s about it for my rant. One would think most of these things are a given when it comes to operating a rental website or offering a property there. Really, one would. But, not everyone does what’s best for everyone, and we end up with requirements like this little post of ours. It is what it is.

We usually charge $150-300/hour for consultation, so here’s a ton of free advice. Use it and abuse it, and you may just find yourself a happier website or apartment owner. With better clients, naturally.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Have any crazy experiences or insight into what these websites and their property owners can do to make life better for everyone? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

36 Comments

I’ve never used Airbnb (yet!), but I was helping some friends with their rental in Barcelona and I was shocked at how many of them claimed to be “in the city center” when they were miles away from the nearest tourist attraction. Not having accurate information was SO frustrating to deal with, and that’s when I was very familiar with a city and could spot their embellishments, as you put it. I’d be really cross if that happened in a totally unfamiliar place!

We’ve used it quite a bit over the years. It’s probably the best of all these types of sites, but it still has a lot of weaknesses. As noted, I think the owners are responsible for a lot of issues as well.

Regarding location…haha that’s so funny. Realtors do the exact same thing for houses and long-term flats, though. You can look at a neighborhood map, and then look at real estate listings, and you’ll see how all the ‘nice’ neighborhoods are so much bigger (and the bad neighborhoods so non-existent) in the eyes of the realtor!

Man, ya’ll are livin’ the LIFE! That’s what my fiance and I are working towards as well. Thanks for the insider info, Look forward to reading more of your goods!! Cheers to you two living as a happy couple!!!

Ugh, yes. JUST BE UPFRONT. And also, be timely about responding! Sheesh.

I used to be kinda anti Airbnb especially when there were so many other sites out there (some fee free). But eventually I learned that all the rest are crap – people are inactive/unresponsive/unprofessional, and there just isn’t enough selection. I’d rather pay the Airbnb fee for choice and convenience (plus one of the other sites that didn’t used to charge a fee, I don’t think, recently introduced one).

Haha, yes! Speaking of that…I had contacted a bunch of flat owners (as I usually do) before we came to Mexico. One *just* replied to me a few days ago. To the message I sent her in September or October. And hello, we’ve already been here for two months. I had another one recently that took a week or so to get back to me (for our next destination). By the time he did, we had already changed our plans and booked with someone else. How can people like that expect to get any business at all? Standard customer service, people.

One would hope everyone would be upfront. I can only imagine some of the nightmares travelers have had to go through because they didn’t know the right questions to ask and because the owner wasn’t upfront.

I wish more pet owners were as responsible as you. I had a bad experience on a recent road trip and almost couldn’t find a safe place to stop because most of the hotels had too many pet restrictions. Like you, I am responsible with my dogs. But if a hotel doesn’t allow, they won’t make any exceptions no matter what.

I suppose the lack of up-frontness is common in every industry, not just this one. But it’s one we’re heavily active in, so it kind of grates on us that we have to deal with it all the time. Most owners/sites don’t list all the basics/amenities, and we end up asking a lot of questions about details and such. I sometimes feel like the owners will get annoyed or offended with all the questions we ask. But alas, if they do, then we probably don’t want to stay there anyway.

Agreed about pet owners. The bad (or lazy ones) – which are probably the majority of owners – give us all a bad rap and are responsible for most of the restrictions put on people like you and us. When it comes to hotels, we’ve never even bothered asking or trying if they say they don’t allow them. I can’t imagine they’d make an exception since they’re hotel chains and all. Fortunately, there are some out there who welcome them. Thanks for stopping by, Dawn!

First, Wimdu sucks. They’re an awful company with a bad, bad reputation. I wouldn’t book with them for the life of me! Second, I get where you’re coming from but I don’t think long-term, monthly bookings are actually very common for these websites.

Nomadic entrepreneurs must be a small market compared to holiday-makers and I’m always surprised to hear about these folks who use those sites to rent long-term places to stay. I don’t do that, but I imagine it must be cheaper and more affordable to find sublets and monthly rentals on other, more local sites.

Regardless, as someone who uses AirBNB or HomeAway to rent places for a week or two, I think you’ve made some good points. I still get annoyed at how often some rentals don’t even offer wifi! Drives me crazy…

From our experience, there are way more monthly renters out there than I think you realize. Sure, they do indeed make up a very small percentage of the overall customer base for these places and I’m happy to give you that. But there are a lot of them out there. They might not be “digital nomads” like us, but they do exist and we’ve seen plenty of them in every place we’ve lived. Also, don’t forget that most of the western world gets way more vacation than Americans do, so stays of a month are not dreamland disco party fantasies.

We certainly don’t always use sites like this, but they do provide more accessibility to monthly rentals than local or personal sites. I have addressed this rant to all sites, not just the big players with fancy websites. We have had many of the same issues with local sites as well and they are not immune or excused of these shenanigans.

There are plenty of other issues outside of the monthly thing, as you can see by all the other stuff I went on and on about.

And yes to your wi-fi complaint! It’s insane that you will find places – even in totally first-world, top of the development-heap cities – with zero connection. Sure, not everyone wants it. But really…I mean…really. Really?! Haha.

Thanks for stopping by and for your thoughts, Adam!

P.S. Wimdu is pretty horrible, but I like to think that they have a large stake in this game and deserve to be called out, especially considering who funds them and how big they are in Europe.

Thank you for this article. We do take a lot of pride in our rental in Seville and it always helps to know where we can improve. An airbnb client wrote me as I was reading it and I responded slightly differently than I would have previously. Happy travels.

Hey Alexis! I’m glad to know that it was of some use to you. I tend to go on a writing rampage when it’s something I’m passionate about; and even though I ranted a bit, I do want it to be helpful for owners and websites alike, as well as for all potential customers out there. I just found your place and it looks really nice. ¡Bravo! We’ll be heading back your way sooner than later and I might give you a shout about the possibilities, even if your place wouldn’t work out for whatever reason. Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your comments!

So I landed on this site after having it pointed out as a blog worth reading if one wishes to learn how to blog like a boss. I do not travel, I do not rent apartments, short-term or otherwise. What I am is a Reader and a Writer. I’ve also been called Chef for the last twenty years, but that’s irrelevant.

I am leaving this comment to say that I am gobsmacked at the quality of writing I found here. I found myself reading for the better part of an hour, solely because I found myself entertained. Thank you for that, truly.

One day, I too will achieve my goal of globetrotting and writing about my experiences.. When that journey begins, I will absolutely come back to this site and open my eyes and mind in order to learn as much as I can about successful renting. Until then, I’m reading for the sheer joy and hell of it. Again, thank you for that, truly.

Haha I don’t know about the whole ‘blogging like a boss’ thing, but thanks to whomever sent you here, and thanks for stopping by. I tried to visit your site but got an “under maintenance” message…is there somewhere else we can check out your writing?

Your comments are much appreciated, we’re happy to have you as a reader. Cheers!

Thanks and you are most welcome :) Our site should be up and running by the end of the month. It’s a new project called Culinary You. To sum it up briefly, it’s a multimedia site where Professional Chefs teach Home Cooks how to do things like a Professional and where Home Cooks teach Professional Chefs how they own it at home. We all have a great deal to learn from one another and the best way to learn is to teach. We’ll have a podcast, videos, and of course, regular blog entries. We’re quite excited.

Hi guys, glad to connect with you on Twitter! I have used AirBnB a few times and this post voices a lot of the frustrations I had with the site. Some hosts really take their time to reply and it could take weeks to get a confirmation. Anyways, I’m liking your posts and I’ll be adding you to my RSS reader. :)

Hey, thanks for stopping by! We just had an experience with a bunch of them last week, and it was overall quite positive. You know how it is though…the bad ones always have more of an impact, unfortunately. Glad you like the blog, we just followed you on FB/G+ and all that.

As I am looking to using services like Air BnB for the first time in Mexico City, I found your post a great help! Your post was very detailed and enables one to ask good questions before making a reservation.

We’re glad we could be of assistance, Denis! If you have any questions or want any additional insight, feel free to leave a comment or send us a message. We use airbnb regularly and hope that you have a great time in DF. Thanks for stopping by!

I have been using Airbnb since last 9 months and I find it really helpful. However, I haven’t tried all the other sites like Wimdu, Dwellable, Roomorama, 9flats and HomeAway. I will now go for them too. Thanks for such an informative post :)

Hi Ryan,
This is a great post, It shows the annoying aspects of Airbnb from the consumers side. As a long time Airbnb hosts it’s nice see a different perspective.
One comment on the monthly pricing..typical discount for a month stays is only 15% across all Airbnb properties. It is just too easy to find new guests and be completely booked. It doesn’t take much time to check in 5 guest vs. 1 so it’s hard to discount more.
I’ve developed a site rentingyourplace.com that shows all this from the Airbnb hosts lens. Check it out.
Also, I’ve developed Airbnb analytics that shows info on all of the properties in the United States.http://rentingyourplace.com/states/airbnb_nationalmap.html

Hey Scott, thanks for the comments. I think it’s pretty straightforward and easy for seasoned owners, but I still think most are missing easy income (or are just too lazy) by not being willing to work with a longer-term guest on something reasonable. I think we’re plenty qualified to give commentary on it given our experience with flat owners around the world heh.

We’ve started seeing the same places for rent on multiple sites (both local and the big ones), which has actually given people like us a bit more leverage. So, that’s nice I guess.

But I also think that the most seasoned of owners do understand why it can be a better deal to take on a client for longer at a better rate. We just booked something for a much longer term with a top host, who definitely understands this. Anyway, to each their own!

I dig your analytics as well. I love looking at data like that haha. Thanks for stopping by!

When I used to travel, I love ABNB, but now that I am an expat here in Berlin, I have started to see a different side of Airbnb I never realized. Mainly, when you live in a neighborhood, you don’t want people coming and going at all hours who you don’t know. I know we all want to “get local”, but it does come at a price. Great point for using it though!

Thanks for the article and opinions! We just started a new website called http://www.myfriendsroom.com which is all about renting travel accommodtion from people you know through your friends network. I hope you like it. You opinion would be great!

Hi Ang & Ryan,
Just found your site this morning and am *loving* it! Thank you so much for putting so much time, energy and care into the great information you post.
My husband and I are in our mid-50’s and are furiously working towards early retirement so that we can globe-trot with our backpacks while we’re still capable. Airbnb looks like the best way to find a bed for the night (or a month) but we’ve run into a big problem – we don’t use facebook. The only way around that seems to be to put copies of our passports on the internet (we’ve already sent them our driver’s licenses but that wasn’t good enough). Um, seriously? So, is there a workaround or should we just use VRBO, etc?
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Hey Mary, thanks for reading – glad you like our site! I’m not sure what you mean…are you saying they require you upload a copy of your passport to use the site? That doesn’t sound right at all. I’m happy to check that out for you, but I’ve never seen or heard of that before. And you definitely don’t need to use a Facebook account either. Please clarify and we’re happy to look into it. Thanks!

Yes, from what I can tell that’s exactly what they want anyone who’s not a FB user to do. When hubby wanted to use them for a week in Shanghai, they asked for a copy of his DL. Feeling uncomfortable, he sent it. They then said “that’s not enough to prove who you are” and asked for his passport. No way. Just… no.

I’ve considered getting an actual FB account to satisfy Airbnb’s demands but just having one isn’t enough – I’d also have to have an “acceptable” number of friends.

Haha, well we try to always answer comments here. The only reason I can think that they would have asked for a copy of your passport is because you were in China. I know for sure that they have some different rules there, as Airbnb sent an email about it not too long ago. If you have questions about that, I’d definitely suggest contacting Airbnb. We do not use our FB account to use Airbnb, and we have never, ever had to submit copies of our passports.

I definitely suggest checking the site or contacting customer service. Don’t worry about seeing “enough,” ever. You can’t ever see it all! Just be happy and see what you can, or want to. :) We always go slow, as I’d rather enjoy myself and relax instead of rushing around trying to see it all. It’s impossible, so we don’t even try.